I’m witnessing first-hand the incredible, impactful results of switching a 2-year old from a wheat, dairy, and sugar-heavy diet to a gluten-free, sugar-free, and wheat-free diet. His behavior has literally changed overnight. It’s nothing short of remarkable, and a true testament to the fact that most food on our supermarket shelves is poison – especially to a baby.

A child’s hyperactive behavior is most likely related to diet. Instead of sitting at the doctor’s office, getting advice about Ritalin, or whatever other pharmaceuticals they try and push on “unruly” kids these days, we can look no further than the kitchen.

Sugar, wheat, and skimmed milk do not belong in a baby’s diet!

Although I am not a mother, I am nonetheless very aware of the affects of baby formulas, wheat products, sugar, and dairy on a baby’s delicate stomach and digestive system.

For starters, human beings are not designed to consume skimmed cow’s milk. Studies have shown that calves die after 6 months if they’re fed only skimmed milk, so what’s that doing to a human baby? Skimmed milk, being skimmed of all its goodness, has added sugar to compensate for all the goodness (fat) that has been removed. So each time a baby drinks skimmed milk, they’re getting a good dose of unnecessary sugar with very little assimilable nutrients.

Sugar is added to every single baby formula, every cereal, bread, snack, and condiment on the market. In other words, anything children like to snack on contains sugar. Giving children sugary drinks and snacks is pretty much setting them up for a major sugar addiction, behavioral problems, diabetes or obesity. “Learning to live” with type-2 diabetes, as some so-called health websites suggest, is complete folly. Children shouldn’t have to live with any condition caused by bad dietary habits, and should never have to substitute a healthy diet with medication. Instead, they should develop a taste for natural sugars such as fruit, and should never be exposed to addictive processed sugars.

Wheat has been blamed for the increase in the growing gluten intolerance in children. High-yielding, hybridized wheat crops with enormous amounts of pre-harvest pesticides are major culprits. The new breeds of wheat in today’s foods are extremely irritating to a child’s delicate digestive system, not to mention being as addictive as sugar.

Fortunately, there are many great alternatives in today’s supermarkets. Gluten-free products, healthy organic alternatives to sugar, and dairy-free alternatives such as oat, coconut, and almond milks are everywhere to be found. Almond milk has far more assimilable calcium than regular cow’s milk, and is really easy to make at home. Gluten-free oats with almond milk and raw honey is much healthier (and more delicious) than the ‘Instant Oat’ sugar bomb that many children consume on a daily basis. Raw honey is a natural prebiotic which feeds the friendly bacteria in the gut, and it’s way more delicious than processed sugar.

When I think back to when I was a child, I remember our milk having a thick layer of cream on top, our bread being thick and heavy, and sweet, sugary snacks were rare, and a treat only. Nowadays food is very different. It has more added sugar, chemicals, and a longer shelf life. Food is not the same as it was 30 years ago, and we have to spend more money to find real, natural food.

Ensuring a baby’s health and future wellbeing is the most valuable gift a parent can give to their child. We shouldn’t assume that because something has added vitamins or has approval from the Heart Association that it’s good for children to eat. No child deserves to be condemned to a possible future of illness and disease because of cheap, processed foods. The earlier children develop good eating habits, the better chance they have at a healthy, vibrant future.